Chapter 33
Elijah
Finally, I find what I’ve been searching for in the interior side pocket of the saddle bag. Now that I have it in hand, enough of my energy is recouped for the final stage of the plan. Positioning Vaughn’s smaller, nearly limp body so that she is now facing me with her legs thrown over mine, our eyes meet. A slow, rainbow smile stretches across her gorgeous face.Perfection...and it’s mine. It’s impossible to explain what it does to my heart when the sight of ME brings out a smile like THIS.She is the sun. Without her, there is no light. There is no warmth. Without her, there is no me.
Bringing my free hand between us, I show her the hand carved box I’m holding.
“Oh my gosh.” The words come out in a soft breath. “This is amazing. Where did you get this?” She’s turning the box over in her hands, looking at the carvings on each side.
Into the top is carved ‘Vaughn’. Below that is ‘Little Devil’. Below that is ‘Mine’. There’s a rainbow on one side, a book and a quill on the other. The back is the draw four card from Uno; the bottom is a pair of stilettos and a gun, arranged side by side. I’m blown away by how precise Vaughn’s aim has become over the past year. Her tracking is incredible. She can hit a moving target at 400 yards, and we’re even working with rifles now for some long-range sniper-style shooting. The weird thing...the wholly Vaughn thing is that she is far less accurate when she’s not wearing heels. The higher the heel, the more precise her aim.
“Open it.”
When she looks up at me, I see tears in her eyes. For a moment, it seems she’s guessed the plot. I know she hasn’t when she asks.
“It’s a box?”
“Yeah, it’s a box. Did you think I gifted you a wooden block?”
“A wooden block that...I’m pretty sure you hand carved. A wooden block that shows just how well you know me. How well you love me.”
My heart is welling with tears, but my eyes stay clear to look at her.
“Open it.”
The box makes a soft snap as it opens. The small copper hinges are on the inside, so it can easily be mistaken for a decorative cube from the outside. Inside the box is an emerald cut diamond engagement ring with a diamond-encrusted platinum band. the diamond itself is clear, but the setting behind it is inlayed with a rainbow bismuth finish, giving the diamond the appearance of having many colors.
So many of the books Vaughn reads talk about the leading lady receiving this enormous, gaudy ring when what they really wanted was something more simple.Not my Vaughn.Vaughn is a statement all on her own, but she loves her makeup, tight skirts, jewelry, and stiletto’s. She’s comfortable in them. For this ring, I knew it had to be a showstopper just like her. I’ll admit, the rainbow bit is for me. That’s what she is to me.My rainbow through the storm.
Her breath hitches, and her free hand flies to her mouth when she sees it. Fortunately, I’m perfectly attuned to every sound and every movement this woman makes. She’s surprised.Elated. She’s about to cry harder.Shit.
“You recorded us having sex without telling me, hoarded it for nearly a year, fucked me on your bike out in the open, and all of this was to propose to me?”
“I also carved that box and designed this ring.”
She laughs through the tears but continues to gaze down at the ring.
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Don’t you have something to ask me?” the drop of her chin and squinting of her eyes tells me that she’s annoyed at having to prompt me.
“Oh. No. All of this was to mark the occasion and present you with the ring. There’s no question.”
Her mouth falls slightly open, and her eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.
“You’re mine, Little Devil. And I’m yours. There’s us and then there’s everybody else. But there’s no world in which you don’t already belong to me. Here’s the ring.” Many times, I’ve pulled this ring out of the box and never has it felt as good as it does now when I slide it on her finger. “Here’s to this fate sealing occasion. The one we’ll never forget.”
“And never be able to tell our kids about.”
This isn’t the admonishment she means for it to be.Our kids. It’s a foregone conclusion. There will be kids, and they will be ours.
“Tell them whatever you want but never forget this day. The day, nearly a year in the making. The day we acknowledge forever together. The day I tell you I’m done.”
There’s a touch of uncertainty in her eyes when she asks “Done?”
“Leaving. I made a deal. I kill the two leaders involved in the trafficking scheme in Latvia, and I get an honorable discharge. Full retirement. So, Little Devil, this means that I’m done leaving. It’s time to start forever.”
